Double trouble for members of autobus on long climb at Tour de San Luis A video shot by fans at the Tour de San Luis on Tuesday shows riders struggling up the day’s final climb as they were buffeted by extremely strong winds, some grinding to a halt altogether.

The 16 kilometre ascent to Filo Sierras Comechingones has an average gradient of 7.8 per cent but must have seemed much more to the cyclists at the rear if the race whenever the road took them into the wind head-on.

Nicknamed ‘the autobus,’ it’s not often you get to see pictures from this end of the race, with TV cameras concentrating on the battle for the stage win further up the road. There’s a camaraderie among those who just want to get through the climb inside the time limit – exemplified here by Peter Sagan giving a helping hand to Androni-Sidermec sprinter Francesco Chicchi.

both would finish the stage almost half an hour behind the day’s winner, Astana’s Miguel Angel Lopez.

Tour de San Luis

Peter Sagan Simon MacMichael Born in Scotland, Simon moved to London aged seven and now lives in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds with his miniature schnauzer, Elodie. […]